An Unnecessary Woman

"Aaliya Sohbi lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family's 'unnecessary appendage.' Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The thirty-seven books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read-- by anyone. After overhearing her neighbors, 'the three witches,' discussing her too-white hair, Aaliya accidentally dyes her hair too blue. In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman's late-life crisis, readers follow Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Colorful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya's own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left" -- from publisher's web site.

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Interesting use of life passage in the life of women and different cultural expectations. Liked some of the literary juxtapositions and phrases used. Helped form a more concrete understanding of "being" versus "doing" life.

Almost 3 stars, but a disappointment. It's a rambling set of reminiscences of a reclusive old woman and her devotion to her city (Beirut) and her books. Having isolated herself from almost all the people around her, all that remains of her world are her memories, her grievances and her translations of books that she diligently completes and then hides away with no intent of ever sharing them with the rest of the world -- a world from which she feels herself to be an outsider.
My problem with the book is that to hold my attention in the absence of plot, the writing must be spectacular or the characters must be very engaging (or both). The writing is highly literate and erudite but otherwise unremarkable; and although Aaliya is certainly a strange duck, I found it impossible to care very much about what became of her.

I greatly enjoyed this book - following Aaliya on her physical and literary journeys. I wish I could say that I was familiar with all of the literature and music that was central to her existence but thankfully that was not imperative to understanding her solitary life.

I felt absolutely nothing for the protagonist and didn't care what was happening or was going to happen to her. Her inner life was marginally interesting in the first half, but not enough to redeem the book overall. Dull as watching paint dry.

A masterful tribute to literature and its power to shape lives and create a prism through which one experiences reality. Simultaneously, an exploration of solitude and the complexities, difficulties and disappointments of human interaction. And yet, hope and rationality seep up from what could have been an oppressive tale. I loved this book and how it took a seemingly ordinary -- yes, unnecessary -- life and made it poignant and meaningful. Highly recommended.

A book that enthralls with a fully developed character that reminisces about her 72 years, her country and city (Beirut), and her place in life. Meanwhile, her passion of literature and translations. The authors ramblings, metaphors, references to specific readings, all create an enthralling and introspective read.

This is an INTELLIGENT book, one to read slowly and contemplate the words. As a teacher, I always talked about using “voice” and the voice of Aaliya, a woman in her seventies is clear, concise and belies the title. She is not an unnecessary woman. Married and divorced by the age of 20, her story is the timeline of the timeline of Beirut’s violent history. Her love of books and her love of Beirut shine through in this story, as many other reviewers have said, as a love letter to literature and Beirut.

An intimate look into the life of a 72-year old woman in Beirut. Alameddine's protagonist loves books more than people, and is a charming curmudgeon who drops literary references like its her job. Which, it kind of is. If you like slow, well-written, in-depth character studies, give this one a try!

mavalibrary
Jul 18, 2015

Greetings, I will give this book 5 stars ONLY because I cannot give it more under the current arrangement. I postponed reading the last few pages because I did not want to end being in Aaliya's company. I was impressed by her erudition and thirst for knowledge, and, last but not the least, by her memory.

To paraphrase the everparaphraseable Freud, who said something to the effect that when you speak about the past you lie with every breath you take, I will say this:
When you write about the past, you lie with each letter, with every grapheme, including the goddamn comma.
Memory, memoir, autobiography -- lies, lies, all lies.